How to Write a Diamante Poem

A diamante poem is a poem made of seven lines of words that are arranged in a special diamond-like form. The word diamante is pronounced DEE - UH - MAHN - TAY; it is an Italian word meaning “diamond.” This type of poem does not contain rhyming words.

There are two basic types of diamante poems: an antonym diamante and a synonym diamante. 

Antonym Diamante Poem

The first step to writing an antonym diamante poem is to think of two nouns that have opposite meanings.

Because a diamante poem is diamond-like in form, it must begin and end with single words that form the top and bottom. In the antonym form, those words will have the opposite meaning. Your job as a writer is to transition from the first noun to the opposite noun in your descriptive words.

Synonym Diamante Poem

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The synonym diamante takes the same form as the antonym diamante, but the first and last words should have the same or similar meaning.

Diamante Poems Follow a Specific Formula

• Line one: Noun
• Line two: Two adjectives that describe the noun in line one
• Line three: Three verbs that end with “ing” and describe the noun in line one
• Line four: Four nouns—the first two must relate to the noun in line one and the second two will relate to the noun in line seven
• Line five: Three verbs that end with “ing" and describe the noun in line seven
• Line six: Two adjectives that describe the noun in line seven
• Line seven: Noun that is opposite in meaning to line one (antonym diamante) or the same in meaning (synonym diamante) as the noun in line one

The first line of this poem will contain a noun (person, place, or thing) that represents the main topic of your poem. As an example, we will use the noun “smile.”

Two words that describe a smile are happy and warm. Those words will form the second line in this example. 

Three verbs that end with “-ing” and describe a smile are: welcoming, inspiring, and soothing.

The center line of the diamante poem is the “transition” line. It will contain two words (the first two) that relate to the noun in line one and two words (the second two) that relate to the noun that you will write in line seven. Again, the noun in line seven will be the opposite of the noun in line one. 

Line five will be similar to line three: it will contain three verbs ending in “-ing” that describe the noun you will put at the end of your poem. In this example, the final noun is “frown,” because it is the opposite of “smile.” The words in our example poem are disturbing, deterring, depressing.

Line six is similar to line two, and it will contain two adjectives that describe “frown.” In this example, our words are sad and unwelcome.

Line seven contains the word that represents the opposite of our subject. In this example, the opposite word is “frown.”

For Inspiration: Antonym Pairs 

• Mountain and valley
• Question and answer
• Curve and line
• Courage and cowardice
• Hero and coward
• Hunger and thirst
• King and queen
• Peace and war
• Sun and moon
• Black and white
• Fire and water
• Friend and foe

For Inspiration: Synonym Pairs

• Heat and warmth
• Noise and sound
• Snake and serpent
• Fear and fright
• Employer and boss
• Happiness and joy
• Gloom and despair
• Sorrow and sadness
• Blanket and coverlet
• Story and tale
• Laugh and giggle
• Coat and jacket
• Clock and timepiece
• Test and exam